1. Field
Exemplary embodiments of the present invention relate to an apparatus for cultivating plants such as ginseng, and more particularly, to a ginseng cultivation apparatus for producing ginseng having a high content of ginsenosides.
2. Discussion of the Background
Raw ginseng, red ginseng, black ginseng, and various processed ginseng products contain ginseng saponins called ginsenosides, which are secondary metabolites that show pharmacological effects, including anticancer, anti-inflammation, anti-hypertension, anti-atherosclerosis, nerve system regulation, and immune regulation effects. The content and ratio of these ginseng saponins are important factors that determine the quality of ginseng or processed ginseng products.
Ginseng saponins have chemical structures different from those of saponins found in other plants. In order to distinguish ginseng saponins from saponins found in other plants, ginseng saponins are called “ginsenosides” in the sense of the glycosides being isolated from ginseng.
Ginsenosides are known to have various effects, including anti-diabetic activity, anticancer activity, antioxidative activity, effects on prevention of atherosclerosis and hypertension, liver function stimulation, hangover removal, anti-fatigue, anti-stress, anti-aging, brain activity stimulation, anti-inflammatory activity, treatment of allergic diseases, and stimulation of protein synthesis.
Plant-extracted functional substances, such as vitamins, carotenoids, polyphenols, and anthocyanins, which show pharmacological effects, including in vivo antioxidative activity, immunity boosting, anticancer activity, and prevention of heart diseases, are mostly classified as secondary metabolites. Similarly, ginsenosides obtained from ginseng are also classified as secondary metabolites. The kind and content of secondary metabolites vary depending on the kind of plant, and the structure of secondary metabolites changes depending on the intensity of biological/non-biological stress, even when the secondary metabolites originate from the same plant species.
It was reported that red ginseng or black ginseng, which are prepared by steaming fresh ginseng, have an increased content of ginsenosides, as compared to fresh ginseng, and contain components that are present in trace amounts in fresh ginseng or absent in fresh ginseng.
Some conventional methods of preparing red ginseng or black ginseng from fresh ginseng attempted to increase the content of crude saponins or specific ginsenoside components by changing conditions, including steaming temperature and time, the number of treatments, etc. In addition, some conventional methods attempted to increase the content of ginsenosides by performing treatments, such as lactic acid bacteria inoculation, irradiation, or far-infrared ray irradiation, during processing of ginseng.
As described above, conventional studies on the functional substances of ginseng have been focused on increasing the content of ginsenosides by various treatments during processing, rather than producing high-quality raw ginseng by treatment during cultivation. In other words, conventional studies on increasing the content of ginsenosides are not significantly deviating from methods of treating the harvested root zone by various processes during processing.
Such conventional methods are not effective in increasing the content of all functional substances, and instead, are effective only in increasing the content of some specific ginsenosides. In addition, such conventional processes have the negative effect of reducing the content of functional substances other than the specific ginsenosides.
In some conventional technologies, studies focused on increasing the content of ginsenosides by irradiation with visible light from LEDs (Light Emitting Diodes) have been conducted, but results that demonstrate the effect of this irradiation have not yet been reported. The commercial application of the irradiation method is limited, due safety problems.